Internet Archive: EU incorrectly designates URLs as terrorist content – update

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Internet Archive says Europol’s EU Internet Referral Unit wrongly labels hundreds of URLs on Archive.org as terrorist content. The European Parliament will eventually vote on legislation requiring this type of content to be removed within an hour.

Internet Archive writes that the EU Internet Referral Unit has sent out a series of emails identifying more than 550 URLs as ‘terrorist propaganda’. These e-mails were sent with the aim of taking the URLs offline. The Internet Archive says it reports about this, because according to the organization it is an example that well illustrates how the upcoming EU legislation will affect the free distribution of information and freedom of expression.

Incidentally, a French government body has also sent a removal request. That was about an item in which comments are made on the Qur’an, because there are said to be “provocative cases of terrorism or its excuse”.

The archive organization says that the obligation to remove terrorist content within an hour, which is part of an EU regulation proposal, in practice means that the reported URLs have to be removed automatically. This is related to the Internet Archive’s statement that it is impossible for employees to assess within an hour. After the removal, the archive says that employees will do their best to assess the content of the requests and the removal.

The Internet Archive says it would be bad enough if the falsely reported URLs referred to “obscure items on our site.” However, the organization says the list of URLs includes some of the most visited pages on archive.org. It would also consist of material that ‘obviously has great educational research value’. This includes a urological scientific article.

Update Friday, 12:37 pm: Internet Archive has since posted a correction. Initially, the organization pointed the finger of blame at Europol’s EU Internet Referral Unit as the sender of the 550 URLs to be removed. However, upon closer inspection, this turned out to be the French national Internet Referral Unit that sent the email from an @europol.europa.eu address. The EU Internet Referral Unit has confirmed that it was not involved in marking the URLs as terrorist content to be removed.

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